Dhaka dialogue advances gender-responsive public procurement in Bangladesh
2 MIN READ
Press Release
Bangladesh
24 April 2025
Dhaka, 24 April 2025 – The government of Bangladesh adopted the Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) Policy in 2023, but has been facing challenges in its implementation. ITC, the Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority (BPPA) and Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) came together to organize a policy dialogue to support the policy’s implementation and M&E.
The dialogue brought key stakeholders from government together with women-owned businesses to reflect on the policy’s implementation status and chart the path ahead for effective policy implementation, particularly in advancing opportunities for women-owned businesses.
Discussions focused on the results of an assessment of needs and challenges. In a panel session, speakers from procuring entities highlighted challenges including the lack of an action plan, monitoring and evaluation framework, resources, and technical capacity. A women’s business association underlined the need to raise awareness on how women can comply with procurement processes and benefit from the SPP policy.
ITC SheTrades provided practical recommendations to address these needs and challenges. These included creating a task force comprising the BPPA and procuring entities to create a gender-responsive action plan and M&E framework, raise awareness among women-led businesses, and build the capacity of procurement officers across the government to implement inclusive practices and gender-disaggregated data collection.
Adopting an inclusive policy is only the beginning. Real impact for women comes from timely implementation and measuring results from the outset. Delays not only heighten urgency but also mean missed opportunities for Bangladeshi women to benefit from the $230 million procurement market.
Going forward, ITC, BPPA and BUILD will continue their collaboration, focusing on training procuring entities and developing an action plan and measurable targets to effectively implement and evaluate the SPP policy.
The event was part of ITC’s support through the UK-funded SheTrades Commonwealth+ Programme. Since 2020, ITC has helped the government of Bangladesh make public procurement more gender-responsive through a baseline study on women’s participation, advisory to develop the SPP policy, and a needs assessment to guide implementation and monitoring.
The dialogue brought key stakeholders from government together with women-owned businesses to reflect on the policy’s implementation status and chart the path ahead for effective policy implementation, particularly in advancing opportunities for women-owned businesses.
Discussions focused on the results of an assessment of needs and challenges. In a panel session, speakers from procuring entities highlighted challenges including the lack of an action plan, monitoring and evaluation framework, resources, and technical capacity. A women’s business association underlined the need to raise awareness on how women can comply with procurement processes and benefit from the SPP policy.
ITC SheTrades provided practical recommendations to address these needs and challenges. These included creating a task force comprising the BPPA and procuring entities to create a gender-responsive action plan and M&E framework, raise awareness among women-led businesses, and build the capacity of procurement officers across the government to implement inclusive practices and gender-disaggregated data collection.
Adopting an inclusive policy is only the beginning. Real impact for women comes from timely implementation and measuring results from the outset. Delays not only heighten urgency but also mean missed opportunities for Bangladeshi women to benefit from the $230 million procurement market.
Going forward, ITC, BPPA and BUILD will continue their collaboration, focusing on training procuring entities and developing an action plan and measurable targets to effectively implement and evaluate the SPP policy.
The event was part of ITC’s support through the UK-funded SheTrades Commonwealth+ Programme. Since 2020, ITC has helped the government of Bangladesh make public procurement more gender-responsive through a baseline study on women’s participation, advisory to develop the SPP policy, and a needs assessment to guide implementation and monitoring.